The Petroleum Directorate Sierra Leone (PDSL) has announced the successful closure of the Nation’s Fifth Offshore Petroleum Licensing Round. The bidding process terminated promptly at 12:00 pm GMT on Friday, September 29, 2023.
PDSL confirmed that several applications were received, including from three prominent industry players with extensive deepwater experience, which have all pre-qualified for exploration and production licenses as operators.
“The companies’ respective expertise and commitments to sustainable and responsible exploration and production make them valuable partners for Sierra Leone’s offshore endeavours,” PDSL said.
PDSL said the interest from these companies is a demonstration of the growing interest in Sierra’s untapped offshore potential. It intends to initiate negotiations, and where necessary, have E&P licenses for these three companies ratified by Parliament as soon as practicable.
The agency has said that the MSGBC (off the coast of Senegal and Mauritania) and Guyana-Suriname basins, known for developing oil and gas from Cretaceous reservoirs, share a geological trend with Sierra Leone. The Directorate also stated, “Sierra Leone has more than 400 km of Atlantic coastline that can be tectonically reconstructed back to fit with the Guyana Basin, a truly World Class oil-rich conjugate twin.”
ExxonMobil has discovered 11 billion oil-equivalent barrels offshore Guyana.
